“There’s an old saying that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. That being the case, Microsoft reminds me of a manic-depressive on the ‘up’ end of the cycle. It runs around like a madman, pushing its latest idea as the greatest thing since sliced bread. Then when it doesn’t quite turn out that way, it quietly drops the thing and moves on to their next obsession,” AdamaDBrown writes for Brighthand.
AdamaDBrown writes, “The latest incarnation of this bizarre behavior is the ‘Zune,’ a kind of handheld-meets-iPod device with a 30 GB hard drive and Wi-Fi. Much ado has been made of it, and it’s expected competition with the iPod, but there’s a question that has to be asked: what does the Zune actually do to be worth such hype?
“If you can answer that, you know something I don’t. As far as I can tell, the Zune isn’t particularly compelling in terms of hardware, software, or capabilities. But that’s not stopping Microsoft from putting together a fabulously expensive PR campaign to tell people that the Zune is so wonderful that they have to have one, even if nobody knows what it does. Of course, that’s not exactly a new tactic for Microsoft,” AdamaDBrown writes.
“Microsoft’s line of cure-all miracle products goes back a long, long way. Before the Zune, it was the Origami. Before that, it was PlaysForSure, the Windows Smartphone, tablet PCs, airpanels — remember those? — network PCs, Microsoft Reader, and a dozen other ideas which they could have easily realized were in need of polishing if they just sat down for a minute and thought about it,” AdamaDBrown writes.
“Zune is incompatible with the much-hyped Microsoft DRM initiative called ‘PlaysForSure.’ While they’re both Windows Media, Zune music won’t work on PFS devices, and PFS music won’t work on the Zune. So not only did Microsoft just royally screw everyone who bought music using PlaysForSure on the guarantee that it would be usable on many different devices, but they further screwed every company that built a PFS capable device,” AdamaDBrown writes.
“Which brings me to the other fatal flaw in Microsoft’s rapid-turnover development plans: nobody can trust them. Microsoft’s initiatives have the shelf life of ice cubes in Baja,” AdamaDBrown writes. “It’s deeply ironic that one of the biggest companies in the tech sector is so completely unable to figure out where it’s going, or to support its own products. Perhaps, having a guaranteed revenue stream from their near-monopoly on OS sales, Microsoft has lost the ability to actually design and market a competitive product. But either way, they’ve repeatedly demonstrated that they’re unable or unwilling to extend their attention span beyond two weeks, which is a pity. Because until they do, the Zune and all the other toys like it are only as good as the commitment behind them.”
More in the full article here.
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